Maiharu Gansoku
Maiharu Gansoku (岩息舞治, Gansoku Maiharu) is one of the Abashiri Convicts and a participant in stenka. Appearance Gansoku is a very large and well built man with a shaven and a thick head adorned with round spectacles and a handlebar moustache. He wears a fur collar jacket on top of a suit. As an Abashiri convict, Gansoku also has coded tattoo all around his upper torso. Personality Gansoku is a man who highly values strength and will only fight opponents that catches his interest. He believes that stenka is a form of self-expression and that the only way people could understand him was through violence. He found prison to be pleasant as it was a place bursting with violence and that everyone would be happy if he used it on guards. Gansoku also finds self-satisfication in the roars of crowds as it affirms who he is. Gansoku also appears to be a polite and courteous man as he compliments other people for their strength and accepts their handshakes. He also has a masochistic tendency to him as he wishes for his opponent to come hit him all at once and screams in pleasure upon being hit while asking for more. However, Gansoku seem to value his own life as he ran away from Sugimoto upon discovering that he was after his tattoo and refusing to cooperate with the soldiers to deal with a wolverine. Gansoku is able to understand what other people are feeling just by fighting with them, as he was able to tell that Sugimoto's fists were filled with anger but his hatred was not directed against him. He is shown to be a kind and caring man who can give words of encouragement and comforts others when they are under a lot of stress and pain. Gansoku appears to have a sense of chivalry as he does not want to fight women. However, he will disregard this trait if the woman whom he is fighting proves to be strong enough to get him excited. Background When Asirpa's group came to the Russian village in Karafuto, Gansoku recognized one of them as being Yoshitake Shiraishi, who was a fellow Abashiri tattooed convict. Wondering why Shiraishi was in Karafuto, Gansoku followed Shiraishi and an Ainu girl, Asirpa to a building where they had tea with Gansoku sitting at the next table over, eavesdropping on them. He heard them spoke about Sugimoto and their shared belief that he cannot be dead since he is "Sugimoto the Immortal". Plot ... ... ... With the wolverine outside of their door, Gansoku is stuck in the steaming banya with Tanigaki, Tsukishima, and Koito. He then begins to raise the room temperature and starts to slap the soldiers with a venik. When Tanigaki asks him to stop and work together, Gansoku replies that they just want to kill him so they can take his tattoo and challenges them to see who will last the longest in the banya. When the wolverine is eventually killed, Gansoku exits the banuya and approaches Sugimoto, saying that they have some unfinished business to settle. As Gansoku and Sugimoto fights, Gansoku says that there is so much anger in Sugimoto's fists but he can tell that they are not directed at him and asks him just why he is angry. Sugimoto, thinking about his friends, begins to cry and admits that he is useless. Gansoku then tells him to forgive himself as he recognizes Sugimoto's efforts while getting punched by Sugimoto's right hook. When Tanigaki, Tsukishima, and Koito tries to stop them, the ice is unable to withstand their weight and breaks, causing them all to fall into the freezing water. The frigid temperature snaps Sugimoto back to his senses and the five naked men hurried to the banya to warm up their bodies. Inside, Sugimoto says that he does not want to kill Gansoku, but regardless someone will still be after his life. He suggests that they make a copy of his tattoo and once they find the gold, Gansoku's life will no longer be in danger. Tsukishima also suggests that he leaves Karafuto and head to Russia where he will be free to practice stenka. Gansoku admits to their ideas before noting to Sugimoto that he had met Asirpa since she was travelling with Shiraishi, a man whom he recognized from his days in Abashiri Prison. Gansoku then relayed Asirpa and Shiraishi's conversation as well as Asirpa's belief that Sugimoto is still alive, which brought a smile to Sugimoto's face. Taking Sugimoto and Tsukishima's advice, Gansoku packs ups his belongings and waves farewell to the soldiers as he leaves Karafuto. Gansoku crosses the drift ice to Russia where he runs into a couple of Akou prisoners and they attack him, much to his pleasure. However, he knocks them away and turns around to see Sugimoto and Asirpa, happy to see the former again. He follows them back and reunites with the other soldiers, helping to carry an injured Tsukishima, as he expresses joy that they were using the same route to head north. Gansoku and Sugimoto's Group stops by a Nivkh settlement near Akou so that they can recover from their battle with Kiroranke while Gansoku plays with Cikapasi and Enonoka. Once they had rested up, Gansoku and Svetlana crosses over to the continent where they began their own adventure together. At a Russian port town on the coast of the Sea of Japan, Gansoku gets into a fight with some Akou prisoners until their boss, Sofia Golden Hand comes forwards to challenge him. Gansoku tries to avoid fighting her, but quickly relents once he finds out how powerful she is. Their fight is broken up by Svetlana who fires a gun into the air as she asks Sofia not to break her bodyguard. Once things had calmed down, Sofia praises Gansoku and tells him to come with her. However, Gansoku says that he and Svetlana are heading west to the Russian capital where he will be able to find plenty of strong people there. Svetlana then asks Sofia where she will go and she replies that for the sake of her hopes and revenge, she will head to Hokkaido, Japan. Abilities and Equipment 'Strength -' Gansoku prides himself on his strength and often uses it a means of life. He will only fight opponents that he deems worthy and is able to hold is own against four men. The only person that Gansoku recognizes as being his equal or superior in strength is Tatsuma Ushiyama, who would defeat him once he gets Gansoku in a judo hold. 'Endurance -' Gansoku has shown to have a very high amount of endurance as he was able to endure the attacks of four men all at once and fend them off. He was also shown visibly not affected by the high temperature of a banya steam house which left others feeling fatigued from the heat. Trivia Gansoku may have been based on the English criminal Charles Salvador, who was noted for his violent tendencies and also had a career as a bareknuckle boxer. ru:Гансаку Майхару Category:Characters Category:Male Category:Tattooed Convicts